NASHVILLE - Vanderbilt University soccer player Sarah Fuller has practiced with the school's football team, and coach Derek Mason said she's a good option to be the kicker for the Commodores in this week's Southeastern Conference matchup with Missouri.
"She's really good with a soccer ball, she seems to be pretty good with a football, so we'll see," Mason said Wednesday. "We're keeping all options open right now, and we'll get a chance to see what she does on Saturday if given the opportunity."
Mason said the Commodores (0-7) have health concerns on special teams entering the trip to Missouri (3-3), but Vanderbilt has declined to specifically comment this season on players who have tested positive for COVID-19 or are in quarantine. Pierson Cooke is 3-of-7 on field goals this season for Vanderbilt, and fellow junior Wes Farley is his backup.
Fuller, a senior from Wylie, Texas, made three saves last weekend as Vanderbilt upset top-seeded Arkansas 3-1 in women's soccer to win the SEC tournament tile.
Mason said he reached out to women's soccer coach Darren Ambrose, a close friend, to see if Fuller could work as an option. Mason saw Fuller work out in practice Tuesday, both off the tee and kicking a couple field goals.
"I just wanted to see how strong her leg was, and I can tell you she's got a strong leg," Mason said. "We'll see what that yields. I mean in terms of distances, I'm not into talking about that. I've got another, like, day to day to go in there and evaluate exactly where she sits. She seems to be a pretty good option."
No woman has appeared in a football game for any team in the SEC or the other four conferences - the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 - that make up the Power Five, the uppermost tier of NCAA Division I.
Liz Heaston became the first woman to play in a college football game on Oct. 19, 1997, when she kicked two extra points for Willamette in an NAIA game. Ashley Martin was the first woman to kick in an NCAA Division I game Aug. 30, 2001, with three extra points for Jacksonville State in what is now referred to as the Football Championship Subdivision.
Katie Hnida was the first woman to score in the Football Bowl Subdivision on Aug. 30, 2003, with two extra points for New Mexico against Texas State-San Marco. Hnida, who started her collegiate career at Colorado, missed an extra point in December 2002 while playing for New Mexico against UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl.
April Goss kicked an extra point in the first half of Kent State's 45-13 win over Delaware State on Sept. 15, 2015. That made her the second woman to score in a game in the FBS, which includes the Group of Five conferences in addition to the Power Five.
AP photo by Wade Payne / Vanderbilt football coach Derek Mason